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Acradle of civilization is a location and a culture wherecivilization was developed independently of other civilizations in other locations. A civilization is anycomplex society characterized by the development ofthe state,social stratification,urbanization, andsymbolic systems ofcommunication beyondsigned or spoken languages (namely,writing systems andgraphic arts).[1][2][3][4][5]
Scholars generally acknowledge six cradles of civilization:Mesopotamia,Ancient Egypt,Ancient India andAncient China are believed to be the earliest inAfro-Eurasia,[6][7] while theCaral–Supe civilization of coastalPeru and theOlmec civilization ofMexico are believed to be the earliest in theAmericas. All of the cradles of civilization depended upon agriculture for sustenance (except possibly Caral–Supe which may have depended initially onmarine resources). All depended upon farmers producing an agricultural surplus to support the centralized government, political leaders, religious leaders, and public works of the urban centers of the early civilizations.
The earliest signs of a process leading tosedentary culture can be seen in theLevant to as early as 12,000 BC, when theNatufian culture became sedentary; it evolved into an agricultural society by 10,000 BC.[8] The importance of water to safeguard an abundant and stable food supply, due to favourable conditions for hunting, fishing and gathering resources including cereals, provided an initialwide spectrum economy that triggered the creation of permanent villages.[9]
The earliestproto-urban settlements with several thousand inhabitants emerged in theNeolithic which began inWestern Asia in 10,000 BC. The first cities to house several tens of thousands wereUruk,Ur,Kish andEridu inMesopotamia, followed bySusa inElam andMemphis in Egypt, all by the31st century BC (seeHistorical urban community sizes).
Historic times are marked apart fromprehistoric times when "records of the past begin to be kept for the benefit of future generations"[10]—in written or oral form. If the rise of civilization is taken to coincide with the development of writing out ofproto-writing, then theNear EasternChalcolithic (the transitional period between theNeolithic and theBronze Age during the4th millennium BC) and the development of proto-writing inHarappa in theIndus Valley of South Asia around 3,300 BC are the earliest instances, followed by Chineseproto-writing evolving into theoracle bone script, and again by the emergence ofMesoamerican writing systems from about 900 BC.
In the absence of written documents, most aspects of the rise of early civilizations are contained in archaeological assessments that document the development of formal institutions and the material culture. A "civilized" way of life is ultimately linked to conditions coming almost exclusively fromagriculture.Gordon Childe defined the development of civilization as the result of two successive revolutions: theNeolithic Revolution of Western Asia, triggering the development of settled communities, and theurban revolution which also first emerged in Western Asia, which enhanced tendencies towards dense settlements, specialized occupational groups, social classes, exploitation of surpluses, monumental public buildings and writing. Few of those conditions, however, are unchallenged by the records: dense cities were not attested in Egypt's Old Kingdom (unlike Mesopotamia) and cities had a dispersed population in theMaya area;[11] theIncas lacked writing although they could keep records withQuipus which might also have had literary uses; and often monumental architecture preceded any indication of village settlement. For instance, in present-day Louisiana, researchers have determined that cultures that were primarily nomadic organized over generations to build earthwork mounds at seasonal settlements as early as 3400 BC. Rather than a succession of events and preconditions, the rise of civilization could equally be hypothesized as an accelerated process that started with incipient agriculture and culminated in the Oriental Bronze Age.[12]
Scholars once thought that civilization began in theFertile Crescent and spread out from there by influence.[13] Scholars now believe that civilizations arose independently at several locations in both hemispheres. They have observed that sociocultural developments occurred along different timeframes. "Sedentary" and "nomadic" communities continued to interact considerably; they were not strictly divided among widely different cultural groups. The concept of a cradle of civilization has a focus where the inhabitants came to buildcities, to create writing systems, to experiment in techniques for makingpottery andusing metals, todomesticate animals, and to develop complexsocial structures involvingclass systems.[14]
Today, scholarship generally identifies six areas where civilization emerged independently:[15][16] theFertile Crescent, includingMesopotamia and theLevant; theNile Valley; theIndo-Gangetic Plain; theNorth China Plain; theAndean Coast; and theMesoamerican Gulf Coast.
TheFertile Crescent comprises a crescent-shaped region of elevated terrain in West Asia, encompassing regions of modern-dayEgypt,Palestine,Israel,Lebanon,Syria,Jordan,Turkey, andIraq, extending to theZagros Mountains inIran. It stands as one of the earliest regions globally where agricultural practices emerged, marking the advent of sedentary farming communities.[17]
By 10,200 BC, fully developed Neolithic cultures, characterized by thePre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) andPre-Pottery Neolithic B (7600 to 6000 BC) phases, emerged within the Fertile Crescent. These cultures diffused eastward intoSouth Asia and westward intoEurope and North Africa.[18] Among the notable PPNA settlements isJericho, located in theJordan Valley, believed to be the world's earliest established city, with initial settlement dating back to around 9600 BC and fortification occurring around 6800 BC.[19][20]
Current theories and findings identify the Fertile Crescent as the first and oldest cradle of civilization. Examples of sites in this area are the earlyNeolithic site ofGöbekli Tepe (9500–8000 BC) andÇatalhöyük (7500–5700 BC).
InMesopotamia (a region encompassing modernIraq and bordering regions of SoutheastTurkey, NortheastSyria and NorthwestIran), the convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers produced rich fertile soil and a supply of water for irrigation. Neolithic cultures emerged in the region from 8000 BC onwards. The civilizations that emerged around these rivers are the earliest knownnon-nomadicagrarian societies. It is because of this that the Fertile Crescent region, and Mesopotamia in particular, are often referred to as the cradle of civilization.[21] The period known as theUbaid period (c. 6500 to 3800 BC) is the earliest known period on thealluvial plain, although it is likely earlier periods exist obscured under thealluvium.[22][23] It was during the Ubaid period that the movement toward urbanization began. Agriculture and animal husbandry were widely practiced in sedentary communities, particularly in Northern Mesopotamia (laterAssyria), and intensive irrigated hydraulic agriculture began to be practiced in the south.[24]
Around 6000 BC, Neolithic settlements began to appear all over Egypt.[25] Studies based onmorphological,[26]genetic,[27][28][29][30][31] andarchaeological data[32][33][34][35] have attributed these settlements to migrants from the Fertile Crescent in theNear East arriving in Egypt and North Africa during theEgyptian and North African Neolithic Revolution and bringingagriculture to the region.Tell el-'Oueili is the oldest Sumerian site settled during this period, around 5400 BC, and the city ofUr also first dates to the end of this period.[36] In the south, the Ubaid period lasted from around 6500 to 3800 BC.[37]
Sumerian civilization coalesced in the subsequentUruk period (4000 to 3100 BC).[38] Named after the Sumerian city ofUruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and, during its later phase, the gradual emergence of thecuneiform script.Proto-writing in the region dates to around 3800 BC, with the earliest texts dating to 3300 BC; early cuneiform writing emerged in 3000 BC.[citation needed] It was also during this period that pottery painting declined as copper started to become popular, along withcylinder seals.[39] Sumerian cities during the Uruk period were probablytheocratic and were most likely headed by a priest-king (ensi), assisted by a council of elders, including both men and women.[40] It is quite possible that the later Sumerianpantheon was modeled upon this political structure.
TheJemdet Nasr period, which is generally dated from 3100 to 2900 BC and succeeds the Uruk period, is known as one of the formative stages in the development of the cuneiform script. The oldest clay tablets come from Uruk and date to the late fourth millennium BC, slightly earlier than the Jemdet Nasr Period. By the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period, the script had already undergone a number of significant changes. It originally consisted ofpictographs, but by the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period it was already adopting simpler and more abstract designs. It is also during this period that the script acquired its iconic wedge-shaped appearance.[41][42]
Uruk trade networks started to expand to other parts of Mesopotamia and as far asNorth Caucasus, and strong signs of governmental organization and social stratification began to emerge, leading to theEarly Dynastic Period (c. 2900 BC).[43][44][45] After the Early Dynastic period began, there was a shift in control of the city-states from the temple establishment headed by council of elders led by a priestly "En" (a male figure when it was a temple for a goddess, or a female figure when headed by a male god)[46] towards a more secular Lugal (Lu = man, Gal = great). The Lugals included such legendary patriarchal figures asEnmerkar,Lugalbanda andGilgamesh, who supposedly reigned shortly before the historic record opens around 2700 BC, when syllabic writing started to develop from the early pictograms. The center of Sumerian culture remained in southern Mesopotamia, even though rulers soon began expanding into neighboring areas. Neighboring Semitic groups, including the Akkadian speaking Semites (Assyrians, Babylonians) who lived alongside the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, adopted much of Sumerian culture for their own. The earliestziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period, although architectural precursors in the form of raised platforms date back to the Ubaid period.[47] TheSumerian King List dates to the early second millennium BC. It consists of a succession of royal dynasties from different Sumerian cities, ranging back into the Early Dynastic Period. Each dynasty rises to prominence and dominates the region, only to be replaced by the next. The document was used by later Mesopotamian kings to legitimize their rule. While some of the information in the list can be checked against other texts such as economic documents, much of it is probably purely fictional, and its use as a historical document is limited.[45]
Eannatum, theSumerian king ofLagash, established the first verifiable empire in history in 2500 BC.[48] The neighboring Elam, in modernIran, was also part of the earlyurbanization during theChalcolithic period.[49] Elamite states were among the leading political forces of theAncient Near East.[50] The emergence of Elamite written records from around 3200 BC also parallels Sumerian history, where slightly earlier records have been found.[51][52] During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between theSumerians and the Akkadians.[53]Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC.[54] TheSemitic-speaking Akkadian empire emerged around 2350 BC underSargon the Great.[43] The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC. Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such asElam andGutium. After the fall of the Akkadian Empire and the overthrow of theGutians, there was a brief reassertion of Sumerian dominance in Mesopotamia under theThird Dynasty of Ur.[55] After the final collapse of Sumerian hegemony in Mesopotamia around 2004 BC, the Semitic Akkadian people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations:Assyria in the north (whose earliest kings date to the 25th century BC), and, a few centuries later,Babylonia in the south, both of which (Assyria in particular) would go on to form powerful empires between the 20th and 6th centuries BC. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Semitic Assyrian-Babylonian population.[56][57]
The developedNeolithic cultures belonging to the phasesPre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,200 BC) andPre-Pottery Neolithic B (7600 to 6000 BC) appeared in theFertile Crescent and from there spread eastwards and westwards.[18] Contemporaneously, a grain-grinding culture using the earliest type of sickle blades had replaced the culture of hunters, fishers, and gathering people using stone tools along the Nile. Geological evidence and computer climate modeling studies also suggest that natural climate changes around 8000 BC began to desiccate the extensive pastoral lands of northern Africa, eventually forming theSahara. Continued desiccation forced the early ancestors of the Egyptians to settle around the Nile more permanently and to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle.[58] The oldest fully developed neolithic culture in Egypt isFayum A culture that began around 5500 B.C.
By about 5500 BC, small tribes living in the Nile valley had developed into a series of inter-related cultures as far south as Sudan, demonstrating firm control of agriculture andanimal husbandry, and identifiable by their pottery and personal items, such as combs, bracelets, and beads. The largest of these early cultures in northern Upper Egypt was theBadari, which probably originated in the Western Desert; it was known for its high quality ceramics,stone tools, and use of copper.[59] The oldest known domesticated bovine in Africa are fromFayum dating to around 4400 BC.[60] The Badari cultures was followed by theNaqada culture, which brought a number of technological improvements.[61] As early as the first Naqada Period,Amratia, Egyptians importedobsidian fromEthiopia, used to shape blades and other objects fromflakes.[62] By 3300 BC, just before the first Egyptian dynasty, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known asUpper Egypt to the south, andLower Egypt to the north.[63]
Egyptian civilization begins during the second phase of the Naqada culture, known as theGerzeh period, around 3500 BC and coalesces with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3150 BC.[64] Farming produced the vast majority of food; with increased food supplies, the populace adopted a much more sedentary lifestyle, and the larger settlements grew to cities of about 5,000 residents. It was in this time that the city dwellers started using mud brick to build their cities, and the use of the arch and recessed walls for decorative effect became popular.[65] Copper instead of stone was increasingly used to make tools[65] and weaponry.[66] Symbols on Gerzean pottery also resemble nascent Egyptian hieroglyphs.[67] Early evidence also exists of contact with theNear East, particularlyCanaan and theByblos coast, during this time.[68] Concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt, also underwent a unification process.[citation needed] During his reign in Upper Egypt, KingNarmer defeated his enemies on the Delta and merged both the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt under his single rule.[69]
TheEarly Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately followed the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. It is generally taken to include theFirst andSecond Dynasties, lasting from theNaqada III archaeological period until about the beginning of theOld Kingdom, c. 2686 BC.[70] With the First Dynasty, the capital moved fromThinis toMemphis with a unified Egypt ruled by agod-king. The hallmarks ofancient Egyptian civilization, such asart,architecture and many aspects ofreligion, took shape during the Early Dynastic period. The strong institution of kingship developed by the pharaohs served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization.[71]
Major advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the subsequentOld Kingdom, fueled by the increasedagricultural productivity and resulting population, made possible by a well-developed central administration.[72] Some of ancient Egypt's crowning achievements, theGiza pyramids andGreat Sphinx, were constructed during the Old Kingdom. Under the direction of thevizier, state officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improvecrop yield, drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established ajustice system to maintain peace and order. Along with the rising importance of a central administration there arose a new class of educated scribes and officials who were granted estates by the pharaoh in payment for their services. Pharaohs also made land grants to their mortuary cults and local temples, to ensure that these institutions had the resources to worship the pharaoh after his death. Scholars believe that five centuries of these practices slowly eroded the economic power of the pharaoh, and that the economy could no longer afford to support a large centralized administration.[70] As the power of the pharaoh diminished, regional governors callednomarchs began to challenge the supremacy of the pharaoh. This, coupled withsevere droughts between 2200 and 2150 BC,[73] is assumed to have caused the country to enter the 140-year period of famine and strife known as theFirst Intermediate Period.[74]
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The earliest reliably-datedNeolithic site inSouth Asia isMehrgarh in theKacchi Plain of present-dayPakistan dating from 7000 BCE.[75][a]
The aceramic Neolithic atMehrgarh in present-day Pakistan lasts from 7000 to 5500 BC, with the ceramic Neolithic at Mehrgarh lasting up to 3300 BC; blending into the Early Bronze Age. Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in the Indian subcontinent.[80] It is likely that the culture centered around Mehrgarh migrated into the Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan and became theIndus Valley Civilisation.[81] The earliest fortified town in the region is found atRehman Dheri, dated 4000 BC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa close toRiver Zhob Valley in present-day Pakistan. Other fortified towns found to date are atAmri (3600–3300 BC),Kot Diji inSindh, and atKalibangan (3000 BC) at theHakra River.[82][83][84][85]
The Indus Valley Civilization starts around 3300 BC with what is referred to as the Early Harappan Phase (3300 to 2600 BC), although at the start this was still a village-based culture, leaving mostly pottery for archaeologists. The earliest examples of theIndus script date to this period,[86][87] as well as the emergence of citadels representing centralised authority and an increasingly urban quality of life.[88] Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures and distant sources of raw materials, includinglapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. By around 2600 BC, villagers had domesticated numerous crops, includingpeas,sesame seeds,dates, and cotton, as well as animals, including thewater buffalo.[89][90]
2600 to 1900 BC marks the Mature Harappan Phase during which Early Harappan communities turned into large urban centers includingHarappa,Dholavira,Mohenjo-daro,Lothal,Rupar, andRakhigarhi, and more than 1,000 towns and villages, often of relatively small size.[91] Mature Harappans evolved new techniques inmetallurgy and produced copper,bronze, lead, andtin and displayed advanced levels of engineering.[92] As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and the recently partially excavatedRakhigarhi, this urban plan included the world's first known urbansanitation systems: seehydraulic engineering of the Indus Valley civilization. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water fromwells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing,waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to innercourtyards and smaller lanes. The housebuilding in some villages in the region still resembles in some respects the housebuilding of the Harappans.[93] The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards,granaries, warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. The massive walls of Indus cities most likely protected the Harappans from floods and may have dissuaded military conflicts.[94]
The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus territories. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found inLothal in Gujarat, was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of theBronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by theirhexahedron weights.[95] Thesechert weights were in a ratio of 5:2:1 with weights of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 units, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the EnglishImperial ounce or Greek uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871. However, as in other cultures, actual weights were not uniform throughout the area. The weights and measures later used inKautilya'sArthashastra (4th century BC) are the same as those used inLothal.[96]
Around 1800 BC, signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BC most of the cities had been abandoned. Suggested contributory causes for the localisation of the IVC include changes in the course of the river,[97] andclimate change that is also signalled for the neighbouring areas of the Middle East.[98][99] As of 2016[update] many scholars believe that drought led to a decline in trade with Egypt and Mesopotamia contributing to the collapse of the Indus Civilization.[100] TheGhaggar-Hakra system was rain-fed,[101][102][note 1][103][note 2] and water-supply depended on the monsoons. The Indus Valley climate grew significantly cooler and drier from about 1800 BC, linked to a general weakening of themonsoon at that time.[101] The Indian monsoon declined and aridity increased, with the Ghaggar-Hakra retracting its reach towards the foothills of the Himalaya,[101][104][105] leading to erratic and less extensive floods that made inundation agriculture less sustainable. Aridification reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilization's demise, and to scatter its population eastward.[106][107][108][note 3] As the monsoons kept shifting south, the floods grew too erratic for sustainable agricultural activities. The residents then migrated away into smaller communities. However trade with the old cities did not flourish. The small surplus produced in these small communities did not allow development of trade, and the cities died out.[109] According toAryan Migration Theory,TheIndo-Aryan peoples migrated into the Indus River Valley during this period and began theVedic age of India.[110] The Indus Valley Civilization did not disappear suddenly and many elements of the civilization continued in later Indian subcontinent and Vedic cultures.[111]
Drawing onarchaeology,geology andanthropology, modern scholars do not see the origins of theChinese civilization orhistory as a linear story but rather the history of the interactions of different and distinct cultures andethnic groups that influenced each other's development.[112] The specific cultural regions that developed Chinese civilization were theYellow River civilization, theYangtze civilization, andLiao civilization. Early evidence for Chinesemillet agriculture is dated to around 7000 BC,[113] with the earliest evidence of cultivated rice found atChengtoushan near the Yangtze River, dated to 6500 BC. Chengtoushan may also be the site of the first walled city in China.[114] By the beginning of theNeolithic Revolution, theYellow River valley began to establish itself as a center of thePeiligang culture, which flourished from 7000 to 5000 BC, with evidence of agriculture, constructed buildings, pottery, and burial of the dead.[115] With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators.[116] Its most prominent site isJiahu.[116] Some scholars have suggested that theJiahu symbols (6600 BC) are the earliest form of proto-writing in China.[117] However, it is likely that they should not be understood as writing itself, but as features of a lengthy period of sign-use, which led eventually to a fully-fledged system of writing.[118] Archaeologists believe that the Peiligang culture was egalitarian, with little political organization.
It eventually evolved into theYangshao culture (5000 to 3000 BC), and their stone tools were polished and highly specialized. They may also have practiced an early form ofsilkworm cultivation.[119] The main food of the Yangshao people wasmillet, with some sites usingfoxtail millet and othersbroomcorn millet, though some evidence ofrice has been found. The exact nature of Yangshao agriculture, small-scaleslash-and-burn cultivation versus intensive agriculture in permanent fields, is currently a matter of debate. Once the soil was exhausted, residents picked up their belongings, moved to new lands, and constructed new villages.[120] However, Middle Yangshao settlements such as Jiangzhi contain raised-floor buildings that may have been used for the storage of surplus grains. Grinding stones for making flour were also found.[121]
Later, Yangshao culture was superseded by theLongshan culture, which was also centered on the Yellow River from about 3000 to 1900 BC, its most prominent site beingTaosi.[122] The population expanded dramatically during the 3rd millennium BC, with many settlements havingrammed earth walls. It decreased in most areas around 2000 BC until the central area evolved into theBronze AgeErlitou culture. The earliest bronze artifacts have been found in theMajiayao culture site (3100 to 2700 BC).[123][124]
Contemporary Chinese civilization begins during the second phase of theErlitou period (1900 to 1500 BC), with Erlitou considered the first state level society ofEast Asia.[125] There is considerable debate whether Erlitou sites correlate to the semi-legendaryXia dynasty. The Xia dynasty (2070 to 1600 BC) is the first dynasty to be described in ancient Chinese historical records such as theBamboo Annals, first published more than a millennium later during the Western Zhou period. Although Xia is an important element in Chinese historiography, there is to date no contemporary written evidence to corroborate the dynasty. Erlitou saw an increase in bronzemetallurgy andurbanization and was a rapidly growing regional center with palatial complexes that provide evidence for social stratification.[126] The Erlitou civilization is divided into four phases, each of roughly 50 years. During Phase I, covering 100 hectares (250 acres), Erlitou was a rapidly growing regional center with estimated population of several thousand[127] but not yet an urban civilization or capital.[128] Urbanization began in Phase II, expanding to 300 ha (740 acres) with a population around 11,000.[127] A palace area of 12 ha (30 acres) was demarcated by four roads. It contained the 150x50 m Palace 3, composed of three courtyards along a 150-meter axis, and Palace 5.[129] A bronze foundry was established to the south of the palatial complex that was controlled by the elite who lived in palaces.[130] The city reached its peak in Phase III, and may have had a population of around 24,000.[128] The palatial complex was surrounded by a two-meter-thick rammed-earth wall, and Palaces 1, 7, 8, 9 were built. The earthwork volume of rammed earth for the base of largest Palace 1 is 20,000 m³ at least.[131] Palaces 3 and 5 were abandoned and replaced by 4,200-square-meter (45,000 sq ft) Palace 2 and Palace 4.[132] In Phase IV, the population decreased to around 20,000, but building continued. Palace 6 was built as an extension of Palace 2, and Palaces 10 and 11 were built. Phase IV overlaps with the Lower phase of theErligang culture (1600–1450 BC). Around 1600 to 1560 BC, about 6 km northeast of Erlitou, a culturally Erligang walled city was built atYanshi,[132] which coincides with an increase in production of arrowheads at Erlitou.[127] This situation might indicate that the Yanshi city was competing for power and dominance with Erlitou.[127] Production of bronzes and other elite goods ceased at the end of Phase IV, at the same time as the Erligang city of Zhengzhou was established 85 km (53 mi) to the east. There is no evidence of destruction by fire or war, but, during the Upper Erligang phase (1450–1300 BC), all the palaces were abandoned, and Erlitou was reduced to a village of 30 ha (74 acres).[132]
The earliest traditional Chinese dynasty for which there is both archeological and written evidence is theShang dynasty (1600 to 1046 BC). Shang sites have yielded the earliest known body ofChinese writing, theoracle bone script, mostlydivinations inscribed on bones. These inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, and religious practices to the art and medicine of this early stage of Chinese civilization.[133] Some historians argue that Erlitou should be considered an early phase of the Shang dynasty. The U.S.National Gallery of Art defines the Chinese Bronze Age as the period between about 2000 and 771 BC; a period that begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration ofWestern Zhou rule.[134] TheSanxingdui culture is another Chinese Bronze Age society, contemporaneous to the Shang dynasty, however they developed a different method of bronze-making from the Shang.[135]
The earliest evidence of agriculture in theAndean region dates to around 9000 BC inEcuador at sites of theLas Vegas culture. Thebottle gourd may have been the first plant cultivated.[136] The oldest evidence of canal irrigation inSouth America dates to 4700 to 2500 BC in theZaña Valley of northernPeru.[137] The earliest urban settlements of the Andes, as well as North and South America, are dated to 3500 BC atHuaricanga, in theFortaleza area,[14] andSechin Bajo near theSechin River. Both sites are in Peru.[138][139]
TheCaral–Supe or Norte Chico civilization is understood to have emerged around 3200 BC, as it is at that point that large-scale human settlement and communal construction across multiple sites becomes clearly apparent.[140] In the early 21st century, Peruvian archaeologistRuth Shady established Caral–Supe as the oldest known civilization in theAmericas. The civilization flourished near the Pacific coast in the valleys of three small rivers, the Fortaleza, the Pativilca, and the Supe. These river valleys each have large clusters of sites. Further south, there are several associated sites along the Huaura River.[141] Notable settlements include the cities ofCaral, the largest and most complex Preceramic site, andAspero.[142] Norte Chico is distinguished by its density of large sites with immense architecture.[143] Haas argues that the density of sites in such a small area is globally unique for a nascent civilization. During the third millennium BC, Norte Chico may have been the most densely populated area of the world (excepting, possibly,northern China).[144] The Supe, Pativilca, Fortaleza, and Huaura River valleys each have several related sites.
Norte Chico is unusual in that it completely lacked ceramics and apparently had almost no visual art. Nevertheless, the civilization exhibited impressive architectural feats, including large earthwork platform mounds and sunken circular plazas, and an advanced textile industry.[14][145] The platform mounds, as well as large stone warehouses, provide evidence for a stratified society and a centralized authority necessary to distribute resources such as cotton.[14] However, there is no evidence of warfare or defensive structures during this period.[144] Originally, it was theorized that, unlike other early civilizations, Norte Chico developed by relying on maritime food sources in place of a staple cereal. This hypothesis, theMaritime Foundation of Andean Civilization, is still hotly debated; however, most researches now agree that agriculture played a central role in the civilization's development while still acknowledging a strong supplemental reliance on maritime proteins.[146][147][148]
The Norte Chico chiefdoms were "...almost certainlytheocratic, though not brutally so," according to Mann. Construction areas show possible evidence of feasting, which would have included music and likely alcohol, suggesting an elite able to both mobilize and reward the population.[14] The degree of centralized authority is difficult to ascertain, but architectural construction patterns are indicative of an elite that, at least in certain places at certain times, wielded considerable power: while some of the monumental architecture was constructed incrementally, other buildings, such as the two main platform mounds at Caral, appear to have been constructed in one or two intense construction phases.[144] As further evidence of centralized control, Haas points to remains of large stonewarehouses found at Upaca, on the Pativilca, as emblematic of authorities able to control vital resources such as cotton.[14] Economic authority would have rested on the control of cotton and edible plants and associated trade relationships, with power centered on the inland sites. Haas tentatively suggests that the scope of thiseconomic power base may have extended widely: there are only two confirmed shore sites in the Norte Chico (Aspero and Bandurria) and possibly two more, but cotton fishing nets and domesticated plants have been found up and down the Peruvian coast. It is possible that the major inland centers of Norte Chico were at the center of a broad regional trade network centered on these resources.[144]
Discover magazine, citing Shady, suggests a rich and varied trade life: "[Caral] exported its own products and those of Aspero to distant communities in exchange for exotic imports:Spondylus shells from the coast ofEcuador, richdyes from theAndean highlands,hallucinogenicsnuff from theAmazon."[149] (Given the still limited extent of Norte Chico research, such claims should be treated circumspectly.) Other reports on Shady's work indicate Caral traded with communities in theAndes and in the jungles of theAmazon basin on the opposite side of the Andes.[150]
Leaders' ideological power was based on apparent access todeities and thesupernatural.[144] Evidence regarding Norte Chico religion is limited: an image of theStaff God, a leering figure with a hood and fangs, has been found on agourd dated to 2250 BC. The Staff God is a major deity of later Andean cultures, and Winifred Creamer suggests the find points to worship of common symbols of gods.[151][152] As with much other research at Norte Chico, the nature and significance of the find has been disputed by other researchers.[note 4] The act of architectural construction and maintenance may also have been a spiritual or religious experience: a process of communal exaltation and ceremony.[142] Shady has called Caral "the sacred city" (la ciudad sagrada): socio-economic and political focus was on the temples, which were periodically remodeled, with major burnt offerings associated with the remodeling.[153]
Bundles of strings uncovered at Norte Chico sites have been identified asquipu, a type of pre-writing recording device.[154] Quipu are thought to encode numeric information, but some have conjectured that quipu have been used to encode other forms of data, possibly including literary or musical applications.[155] However, the exact use of quipu by the Norte Chico and later Andean cultures has been widely debated.[14] The presence of quipu and the commonality of religious symbols suggests a cultural link between Norte Chico and later Andean cultures.[151][152]
Circa 1800 BC, the Norte Chico civilization began to decline, with more powerful centers appearing to the south and north along the coast and to the east inside the belt of the Andes.[156] Pottery eventually developed in theAmazon Basin and spread to the Andean culture region around 2000 BC. The next major civilization to arise in the Andes would be theChavín culture atChavín de Huantar, located in the Andean highlands of the present-dayDepartment of Ancash. It is believed to have been built around 900 BC and was the religious and political center of the Chavín people.[157]
Maize is believed to have been first domesticated in southern Mexico about 7000 BC.[158][159] TheCoxcatlan Caves in the Valley ofTehuacán provide evidence for agriculture in components dated between 5000 and 3400 BC.[160] Similarly, sites such asSipacate in Guatemala provide maizepollen samples dating to 3500 BC.[161] Around 1900 BC, theMokaya domesticated one of the dozen species ofcacao.[162][163] A Mokaya archaeological site provides evidence of cacao beverages dating to this time.[164] The Mokaya are also thought to have been among the first cultures in Mesoamerica to develop a hierarchical society. What would become the Olmec civilization had its roots in early farming cultures ofTabasco, which began around 5100 to 4600 BC.[165]
The emergence of theOlmec civilization has traditionally been dated to around 1600 to 1500 BC. Olmec features first emerged in the city ofSan Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, fully coalescing around 1400 BC. The rise of civilization was assisted by the local ecology of well-watered alluvial soil, as well as by the transportation network provided by theCoatzacoalcos River basin.[165] This environment encouraged a densely concentrated population, which in turn triggered the rise of anelite class and an associated demand for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture.[166] Many of these luxury artifacts were made from materials such asjade,obsidian, andmagnetite, which came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica. The aspect of Olmec culture perhaps most familiar today is their artwork, particularly theOlmec colossal heads.[167] San Lorenzo was situated in the midst of a large agricultural area.[168] San Lorenzo seems to have been largely a ceremonial site, a town without city walls, centered in the midst of a widespread medium-to-large agricultural population. The ceremonial center and attendant buildings could have housed 5,500 while the entire area, including hinterlands, could have reached 13,000.[169] It is thought that while San Lorenzo controlled much or all of the Coatzacoalcos basin, areas to the east (such as the area where La Venta would rise to prominence) and north-northwest (such as theTuxtla Mountains) were home to independent polities.[170] San Lorenzo was all but abandoned around 900 BC at about the same time thatLa Venta rose to prominence. A wholesale destruction of many San Lorenzo monuments also occurredcirca 950 BC, which may indicate an internal uprising or, less likely, an invasion.[171] The latest thinking, however, is that environmental changes may have been responsible for this shift in Olmec centers, with certain important rivers changing course.[172]
La Venta became the cultural capital of the Olmec concentration in the region until its abandonment around 400 BC, constructing monumental architectural achievements such as theGreat Pyramid of La Venta.[165][167] It contained a "concentration of power", as reflected by the sheer enormity of the architecture and the extreme value of the artifacts uncovered.[173] La Venta is perhaps the largest Olmec city and it was controlled and expanded by an extremely complex hierarchical system, with a king as the ruler and the elites below him. Priests had power and influence over life and death and likely great political sway as well. Unfortunately, not much is known about the political or social structure of the Olmec, though new dating techniques might, at some point, reveal more information about this elusive culture. It is possible that the signs of status exist in the artifacts recovered at the site such as depictions of feathered headdresses or of individuals wearing a mirror on their chest or forehead.[174] "High-status objects were a significant source of power in the La Venta polity political power, economic power, and ideological power. They were tools used by the elite to enhance and maintain rights to rulership".[175] It has been estimated that La Venta would need to be supported by a population of at least 18,000 people during its principal occupation.[176] To add to the mystique of La Venta, the alluvial soil did not preserve skeletal remains, so it is difficult to observe differences in burials. However, colossal heads provide proof that the elite had some control over the lower classes, as their construction would have been extremely labor-intensive. "Other features similarly indicate that many laborers were involved".[177] In addition, excavations over the years have discovered that different parts of the site were likely reserved for elites and other parts for non-elites. This segregation of the city indicates that there must have been social classes and therefore social inequality.[174]
The exact cause of the decline of the Olmec culture is uncertain. Between 400 and 350 BC, the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously.[178] This depopulation was probably the result of serious environmental changes that rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers, in particular changes to theriverine environment that the Olmec depended upon for agriculture, hunting and gathering, and transportation. These changes may have been triggered bytectonic upheavals or subsidence, or thesilting up of rivers due to agricultural practices.[165][167] Within a few hundred years of the abandonment of the last Olmec cities, successor cultures became firmly established. TheTres Zapotes site, on the western edge of the Olmec heartland, continued to be occupied well past 400 BC, but without the hallmarks of the Olmec culture. This post-Olmec culture, often labeledEpi-Olmec, has features similar to those found atIzapa, some 550 km (330 miles) to the southeast.[179]
The Olmecs are sometimes referred to as the mother culture of Mesoamerica, as they were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed.[180] However, the causes and degree of Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures has been a subject of debate over many decades.[181] Practices introduced by the Olmec includeritual bloodletting and theMesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of subsequent Mesoamerican societies such as theMaya andAztec.[180] Although theMesoamerican writing system would fully develop later, early Olmec ceramics show representations that may be interpreted as codices.[165]
Because the wordcivilization can be defined widely, the term "cradle of civilization" has also been used to describe the origin-point of a particularcultural group, or as the basis for anational mysticism or theorigin myth of anation. This is separate from the use of the term in the study of human prehistory and the development of complex, sedentary societies.
The terms "cradle of western civilization" and "cradle of European civilization" have been used informally to illustrate howAncient Greece provided a key foundation for the development of modernWestern culture. This includes contributions todemocracy, art, theatre, philosophy, andscience,[182] along with the contributions ofAncient Rome torepublicanism,law,architecture,warfare andWestern Christianity.[183] Classical-era Greece and ancient Rome wereIron Age civilisations descended from earlierBronze Age cultures such as theMinoans andMycenaeans, which developed in Europe following thespread of agriculture from the Fertile Crescent thousands of years earlier.
"Cradle of civilization" has been used inIndian nationalism (In Search of the Cradle of Civilization 1995) andTaiwanese nationalism (Taiwan;— The Cradle of Civilization[184] 2002).
The terms also appear in esotericpseudohistory, such as theUrantia Book, claiming the title for "the second Eden", or thepseudoarchaeology related to Megalithic Britain (Civilization One 2004,Ancient Britain: The Cradle of Civilization 1921).
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The following timeline shows a timeline of cultures, with the approximate dates of the emergence of civilization (as discussed in the article) in the featured areas, the primary cultures associated with these early civilizations. It is important to note that the timeline is not indicative of the beginning of human habitation, the start of a specific ethnic group, or the development of Neolithic cultures in the area – any of which often occurred significantly earlier than the emergence of civilization proper.
The dates given are only approximate as the development of civilization was incremental and the exact date when "civilization" began for a given culture is subject to interpretation.
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)PART I PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY CHAPTER II THE CRADLE OF WESTERN THOUGHT:
The capital of Greece, one of the world's most glorious cities and the cradle of Western culture,
In short, Greece, despite having been the cradle of Western culture, was then an "other" space separate from the West.
and making Egypt play the same role in African education and culture that Athens and Greece do in Western culture.
Greece has long been considered the seedbed or cradle of Western civilization.
The Special Case of Greece The ancient Greece was a cradle of the Western culture,
Ancient Greece is often called the cradle of western civilization. ... Ideas from literature and science also have their roots in ancient Greece.